Empire of Tarsis
Ruling from the ancient bastion of Tarsis, the entity once known as the Coalition of Planets is now a vestigial empire that lingers on in face of outside threat and civil war. There were many states within the Coalition, foremost being the Empire of Tarsis, a feudal monarchy claiming divine right to rule over the World. States such as the Digondarian League and Othaen Federation had sworn an oath of fealty to the Emperor, and thus followed Tarsis's rule, until relatively recently. The Coalition's capital was the planet Tarsis, which acts as capital for the Empire as well. Tarsis is the home world of one of the two races of Man, the older Tarsin race. The younger Human race comes from Earth, in the biggest cosmological coincidence ever to happen. The Coalition as a functioning organization is no longer a reality, but some Tarsins cling to the timeless title. Despite the grim situation, those remaining loyal to the Emperor have hope that one day the people of the galaxy will join them in quest for a better future. But should the worst happen, they will always have Tarsis, one all citizens of the Empire call the greatest planet in the history of the World. Only time will tell the fate of them, and all things. History Main article: The History of Tarsis and the Tarsin Peoples Tarsin civilization spans eleven millennia of history, twice as long as all recorded civilization on Earth. Its chronicles number beyond all counting, its stores and logs of data too vast to be truly understood. As is only natural, most of it has slipped into oblivion, be it the oblivion of time's consumption, or just the oblivion of an Archive storeroom three thousand feet below ground which hasn't been opened in the last dozen centuries. This problem is compounded by the changes in the Tarsin language over the years. Tarsin laymen could not read records older than five hundred years anymore than an Englishman of the 31st century could read Anglo-Saxon; and certainly no Tarsin could read older data as no Englishman could read Proto-Germanic or Indo-European. It takes a highly trained and specialized Chronicler of the Archive to decode such documents. Beyond a few historical figures and events now turned to legend and myth, plus the names of the various ages the Coalition has gone though, most of history is just a shrouded mystery to the average subject. Culture Main article: Culture of the Tarsins By Earthman standards, and indeed the standards of most all other races, the Tarsins have a strict and repressive culture. But all is not as it seems to outsiders, as the Tarsins have a very good reason for why they do things the way they do. Economy The economy of Tarsis is very strong, based heavily in the trade rather than export or import of goods. Tarsis itself is often referred to as the economic heart of the world; all trade routes eventually lead to the markets of the throne-world. There are few regulatory laws when it comes to trade in the Empire, and most everything ends up being dealt there. However, the Tarsins maintain a strong tradition of ship building and the production of hardy machines. Many Tarsin-made vehicles are still active on Earth; the notion of planned obsolescence being something rather obscene to them. Armed Forces of the Empire Main article: Armed Forces of the Empire The regional armies and the Imperial Navy are much weakened from their heyday in the distant ages long ago, and still weak in comparison to the last golden age after the conquest of Earth. They are still not to be taken lightly, though. Partner Races, of the Past and Present Main article: Partner Races of the Past and Present At their height of power, the Coalition held ten races within its dominion. Now, there are but three who yet hold fealty to the Emperor. Notable Locations There are over a thousand inhabited planets in the Empire, these are but a few of them. A good fraction of these were settled in the days before the cataclysm, worlds with a population in the billions and completely industrialized and urbanized. However, those days did not last forever, and the million worlds of man were reduced to a few dozen worlds of man. Despite the disasters of bygone centuries, these pre-cataclysm worlds are still centers of culture, commerce, industry, and population in the Empire. But for the last eleven thousand years, many of the Old Coalition's seeds have borne fruit, as hundreds of terraformed planets complete their cycle every millennium. The Empire was sure to dispatch settlers to claim known locations as they become ideal for human life, while braver free enterprisers set off into the unknown to look for those worlds not recorded. These post-cataclysm planets are rarely as heavily inhabited as the pre-cataclysm ones, and most were relatively unspoiled by human affairs. This changed during the freedom wars for many planets closer to Earth, and with the developing conflict in this region of the galaxy, is only likely to change further for those unprotected unfortunate. However, those planets that still swear fealty to Tarsis, or at least are controlled by it, are as followed: Inhabited pre-cataclysm: *Hethorîon *Mikô-Îrud *Tarsis *Thôvîon *Thurajîon *Ûnalîar° *Vogelîon Inhabited post-cataclysm: *Ai-Kaion *Atalîar *Chakâr *Erahalîon *Hâôn *Kizik-Kur *Mezara °abandoned, quarantined, and removed from all but military starcharts See also *The Beacon Cataclysm *Tarsis Related Links 23rd Century's current haunt: http://www.flickr.com/groups/23c/ 23rd Century Wiki: http://23rd-century-universe.wikia.com/wiki/23rd_Century_Universe_Wiki